Wax Dragon

I wanted to to a Turkey fan mount of a turkey I shot a while ago and kind of forgot about. Anyway, long story short the feathers had been sitting in a freezer in the garage for years. I got it out, thawed it out, cut any excess meat at the base, cut the tailbone. I scrapped off the oil glands, and split the pins apart to remove grease/wax/fat that sits between all the pins and doused it all in borax. What I'm getting at is I think I've done most everything to get this fan mount ready. My problem is since this has been in the freezer so long the feathers won't spread out for a fan, They are essentially all stuck in a vertical position. Trying to fan them out pretty much almost causes me to bend or break the pins in the feathers. Any clues on how to proceed further to get this to fan out? Is it a lost cause, or perhaps I'll have to go to a taxidermist to get this done now? Any tips, or ideas are greatly appreciated.

WD

excalibur43

Get a piece of cardboard , big enough for the fan to fit on. Separate the large tail feathers one by one and place them on the cardboard in the order that they came out, in the shape of a fan.The secondary feathers that usually lay on top of the fan, can be done in the same manner, and placed on top of the fan. Now, all of your feather quills should be together,in an arc shape. Place a piece of saran wrap under the quills. Mix up some auto body bondo and place a coat over the quills. In 15-20 minutes, the bondo should be firm. Turn the fan over and do the same thing to the quills on the back side. Once hardened, you can sand or shape the bondo if you need to.

Wax Dragon

That is a very common sense approach and what I will do. I think I really over thought this one. Thank you! I will try this and I don't see any reason why it won't work. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

WD